EU Commissioners see opportunity in economic downturn and climate change

The EUs competitiveness ministers concluded recently that the economic downturn and global issues such as climate change could present new business opportunities, new markets, and new jobs, if Europe makes the transition to an eco-efficient economy.

Key factors discussed include: educating business and industry about the potential opportunities, committing to research, innovation, development, and the creation of new jobs to support an eco-economy, and greener public procurement legislation and performance specs.

Barriers to overcome include: institutional and bureaucratic ones, inadequate financing for eco-transformations, and inadequate knowledge of how to go about the transformation. If solutions were discussed, they were not reported in the “No time to lose on the eco-economy” article.

For more business, science, and technology information from a European perspective, visit the European Commission’s CORDIS (Community Research & Development Information Service) website. –nks